WAPF raw milk baby formula, divided and conquered

I started giving our little one the WAPF raw milk formula when no longer got donated breastmilk, around 5 months old, almost 4 months ago. She certainly thrives on it!  But the formula itself has logistical issues. The oil rises to the top, even with warming and frequent shaking during feeding.  At the end there is a nipplefull of oil, which the baby rejects - she got really smart about it. And that's not the only issue - the milk often curdles, especially at the end of a batch, maybe because the milk is mixed with whey. And the nutritional yeast flakes are just too large and clog the nipple.  I would strain the whole batch in a fine mesh strainer before bottling, but somehow the nipples often clogged up. So I decided to "divide and conquer" as soon as the baby started being good at eating solids, around 6.5 months.

The idea is to put all the “annoying” ingredients together into a gelatin which is served as a baby food; the remaining ingredients –  water, lactose, milk, cream, whey – make a lovely milk to be fed in bottles, sweet and creamy. And it doesn't curdle or separate. Together, the solids and liquids have exactly the same amounts of the same ingredients as the wapf raw milk formula, except there is ¼ cup more water and 1 tsp less gelatin.  Use only when baby is ready to have solids several times a day, so that the baby gets all the nutrition that was in a batch of the WAPF formula. 

The solid part is not exactly tasty, but it makes a fantastic base for introducing every other baby food - bananas, squash, carrots, broth, ripe peaches, applesauce, yogurt, etc. (we do GAPS so no sweet potatoes). I've found it very, very convenient to have on hand and she just loves her food!

           Solids (Baby food)

      
          1/4 cup filtered water

          1 teaspoon gelatin

     Sprinkle gelatin onto water in a small saucepan and dissolve on low heat until liquid is clear (doesn't take long because there's so little water).  Turn off heat. Cool down (place saucepan in a pan of cold tap water for a 10-20 seconds, or make the liquids in the meantime) until still warm enough to melt the high vitamin butter oil and coconut oil, but not hot. 

     Add:
¼  teaspoon high-vitamin butter oil
2   teaspoons coconut oil
1   teaspoon expeller-expressed sunflower oil
1   teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
½  teaspoon fermented cod liver oil
2   teaspoons Frontier brand nutritional yeast flakes 
 ¼  teaspoon acerola powder
Make sure the temperature is below 105 F before adding:
¼ teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis
1  egg yolk (optional)

     Stir with a whisk until well mixed.  Pour into a baby food jar. Refrigerate. When it’s gelled, to serve to baby, mash about one third of the gel with a piece of banana in a baby food mill (type pictured here), or ripe peach, cooked squash or carrots, yogurt, etc.  Use at same rate as the liquid. 

       Liquids (Bottles)

    

"Lactose water":  Dissolve ¼ cup lactose in 7/8 cup water over medium heat.  When the liquid is clear (doesn’t take as long as in the original formula with the gelatin), turn off heat, add 1 cup water.  Pour into a glass container for storage. When it cools enough not to kill the probiotis in the whey, add  and 1/4 cup whey. Keep refrigerated. Makes 2 and 1/8 cups.

"Creamy milk": In another glass container, mix the 2 cups farmer’s milk and 2 Tablespoons (or more) cream (use a wire whisk or immersion blender).  Makes 2 and 1/8 cups.

To serve, mix equal parts lactose water and creamy milk in a baby bottle. Warm if desired. 

You should run out of the lactose water, creamy milk, and baby food gelatin at the same time or nearly so. 

If you store the liquids in the same type of bottle, it's easy to keep the quantities in them equal so you run out of them at the same time.

Whole foods!

It's been a while since I entered a post... Lots to do, little time - all GAPSters understand this.

It was during one of those super-rushed dinner-making times that I decided to cut corners to the ultimate and just let my veggies cook in the simmering broth, WHOLE.  Carrots, zucchini and broccoli.  I simply did not have time for slicing or chopping.  All I did was peel the carrots, trim the bottom of the broccoli stem, and nothing to the zucchini (except washing).  Then I dropped them into the ever-present broth and pulled each out at perfect tenderness.  WOW!  Not only did they taste great, they LOOKED great!  The toddlers were much more interested than when I present them neatly (or not-so-neatly) cut up veggies.  We had FUN!  The carrots were handled like corn on the cob by little hands.  A crocodile mouth was cut into one end of the zucchini.  The broccoli was trees. 

And the broth got some extra vitamins, too.

Charlotte's Legal Blondies

My daughter Charlotte invented this recipe.  Very healthy and sooooo yummy!  Tastes like butterscotch.  She cooked it in our solar oven so the temperature is low and the time long.  I think it kept all the ingredients intact and flavorful. 

1 banana

2 cups dates

½ cup coconut oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¼ cups almond flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp cinnamon

½ cup chopped pecans

Put banana, dates and coconut oil in blender and process until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla and process again.  In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  Add blender contents and mix well.  Mix in pecans.

Spoon into greased brownie pan.  Bake at 250F for 1 hour.  


Variation: if you want to make Brownies add 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.  I love brownies, but amazingly, the blondies were even better!

GAPS Almond-coconut baking mix and Breakfast Casserole

3 cups almond flour
1 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together well and store in ziplock bag in the refrigerator.


BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

6 eggs
2/3 cup coconut milk
1 chopped onion
1 cup frozen spinach
1 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup chopped mushrooms
½ cup almond-coconut baking mix
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups shredded cheddar or Gruyère (Swiss) cheese or Parmesan
7 strips bacon*, cut in halves
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Heat oven to 350° F.
Cover the bottom of the 8 inch casserole with the bacon.  Bake until crisp.  Turning over is not necessary.  Remove casserole from oven.
Sauté the onions, peppers and mushrooms in a frying pan with a little butter, coconut oil or ghee. After 5 minutes add the spinach and sauté 5 more minutes.
In a medium bowl, mix the eggs and coconut milk.  Add the cheese and the baking mix.
Spoon the onion/spinach over the bacon, then the batter.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until it puffs up, browns slightly and no longer wiggles when shaken gently. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

* GAPSters in Ottawa are lucky to have the Sausage Kitchen where they make additive-free, sugar-free bacon.  If you don't have access to GAPS-edible bacon, put 1/3 cup coconut oil or ghee in the bottom of the casserole and place in the oven until melted.  Proceed with the rest of the recipe starting at "Remove casserole from oven."

Asparagus Velouté

A velouté (French for velvety) is a very smooth soup.  The asparagus and coconut flavors blend surprisingly deliciously.  Super easy too - and we GAPSters always have lots of chicken broth on hand!

Asparagus Velouté

2 cups chicken broth

1 bunch asparagus

2 cups coconut milk

1.  Rinse the asparagus. 

2.  Put about one cup of the chicken broth in each of two saucepans.  Bring both to a simmer on medium heat.

3.  Meanwhile, break the asparagus into 1 to 2 inch pieces with your hands.  Put the all the tips in one saucepan, and the rest except the pieces that are too tough in the other.  Simmer for about 8 minutes, until the asparagus is tender.

4.  Measure the coconut milk in your blender jar.  Add the contents of the saucepan that has the middle of the asparagus.  Process on high until completely smooth.

5.  Pour the blender contents into the second pan.  Mix and check seasonings (salt, pepper).  Serve lukewarm. 

Chia-fennel purée

I've been experimenting with savory dishes based on chia seeds.  This one turned out quite nicely, and is a good substitute for mashed potatoes. Kinda rounds out the meal, especially if you serve another dish with a nice rich sauce that cries for something to sop it up with. And chia gives you a full feeling like no other GAPS-legal food.  I searched through many

Make the chia gel ahead of time: the longer the chia seeds soak, the firmer the gel gets - meaning the less of those expensive seeds you use.  What's more, the longer they soak, the more nutrients you get from the seeds.  You can make the chia-broth gel in large batches to add to mashed carrots, squash, or other vegetable of your choice.  The gel keeps for at least a week in the refrigerator.

Chia-fennel purée


3 Tbs chia seeds
½ cup broth, seasoned to taste

1 onion, chopped
¼ cup butter, ghee or coconut oil
1 bulb fennel, chopped
½ cup broth, seasoned to taste

Prepare chia gel:

Mix chia seeds into broth in a container with a lid.  Stir once or twice then refrigerate 8 hours or more.

Cook fennel:

Sauté fennel in butter in a large pan on low for 5 minutes.  Add fennel and sauté for 5 minutes, then add broth and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated, stirring frequently (do not cover pan).

Blend together:

Put chia gel and fennel in blender or food processor.  Process until smooth.  Check seasonings.

Serve warm.

Eggnog Mousse

Looking for another way to add coconut oil to our daily fare, I've been tweaking this recipe to get the creaminess and spice just right.  It is a light, frothy, creamy dessert with that wonderful familiar eggnog flavor.

In addition to guaranteeing 2 Tablespoons coconut oil per serving (estimating that the coconut milk contains at least 15% fat), it's also an easy way to give your family the fantastic nutrition contained in raw egg yolks.  No one in my family likes them in broth, and then if you reheat the leftover broth, the nutrients get altered anyway.  Here the yolks stay cool during the whole process. If you can't do egg yolk, the recipe still works.

With a tight lid, the mousse can keep in the fridge for 5 days - betcha it won't stay around long enough for you to worry about it!

Makes 8 servings.  

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups coconut milk, warmed
2/3 cup coconut oil, warmed until melted
1/3 cup honey or 12 dates
0 to 4 raw egg yolks*
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 package unflavored gelatin

Equipment: blender

Note: for ease in measuring, I measure the coconut milk in the blender jar, then take some out to warm.  The idea is to get the blender contents over 76 F to keep the coconut oil liquid while the ingredients get mixed.

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients except gelatin in blender.  Process on low until well mixed. If using dates, process on high for 1 minute, then turn to low. Remove cover while still running and drizzle in the gelatin.  Process on high for 30 seconds. 

2. Place the blender jar in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

3. The liquid should now be very slightly thickened, very creamy, not yet cold.  Put blender jar back on base and process on high for 1 full minute.  This puts air bubbles in the thick liquid to get the fun & frothy mousse texture.

4. Pour into individual serving bowls with lids (individual yogurt containers for example).  Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.  Sprinkle with additional nutmeg if desired.

* The egg yolks are not necessary to the recipe.  If raw egg yolks are not part of your diet, you can leave them out; if you only have 2 egg yolks from using the whites elsewhere, just use those, and so on.  I usually  put in 2 to 4 yolks, depending on my egg supply, how desperate I am to get nutrients, etc.